Southern California -- this just in

Glendale police officials are attributing a higher property crime rate partly
to the continued inflow of parolees released under a state program
designed to reduce the prison inmate population.

Seventeen
parolees, some of whom could be early-release inmates, will be freed
from prison in the next three months and plan to live in Glendale, Sgt.
Tom Lorenz said. The incoming parolees were convicted of drug sales,
second-degree murder, drive-by shooting, sex crimes and property crimes.

In the last 45 days, 12 other parolees convicted of a similar range of crimes have moved to Glendale, Lorenz said.

The former inmates join a list of 264 active parolees who live in the city, he added.

The
number of recently released inmates without parole supervision who call
Glendale home is a fraction of the total at 13, he said. Burbank has 13
early-release parolees, and Pasadena has 35, Lorenz added.

"Many of these parolees do not understand city limits and boundaries," he said.

With the increase in the city's parolee population, police officials said they have also seen a jump in property crimes.

"What
we are continuing to find is that many of our sprees and hot spots and
series are tied ultimately back to parolees, and the recidivism rate
that has long been established through studies is very apparent in what
we find today in the streets with our crime," Glendale Police Chief Ron De Pompa
said.

Property crimes increased to 1,941 between January and June
of this year, up from 1,784 for the same period last year, according to
department statistics.